The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell 1.9 percent to $68,739.5 by 10:18 (06:18 GMT) and was headed for a 0.3 percent decline for the week, investing.com wrote.
Conflicting signals on the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran largely robbed bitcoin of its initial momentum this week, especially as Washington and Tehran gave conflicting signals about a possible ceasefire.
Bitcoin is headed for a $14 billion options expiration on Friday
About $14 billion of bitcoin options are set to expire later on Friday, with the bulk of open positions closing on cryptocurrency exchange Deribit.
The focus is on bitcoin price fluctuations ahead of and after expiration, especially amid broader market volatility caused by the conflict with Iran.
A Bloomberg report set the maximum “pain level” for bitcoin around $75,000 – where the largest number of options expire without value. Large institutional investors and fund managers could push the price to that level to limit payouts to buyers.
However, the prolongation of contracts is expected to reduce short-term hedging activity in cryptocurrency markets, leaving the former cryptocurrency more vulnerable to external shocks, particularly from war in the Middle East.
While BTC has indeed shown some strength since the conflict began almost a month ago, it has failed to break the $75,000 mark. This came after the world’s largest cryptocurrency lost up to 50% from its late 2025 record high of nearly $126,000.
Much of bitcoin’s recent strength may have also been due to hedging activity ahead of Friday’s expiration.
Cryptocurrency prices today: altcoins fall amid de-escalation with Iran
Prices of other cryptocurrencies mostly declined on Friday amid conflicting signals about the de-escalation of the war with Iran, although they traded above their weekly lows.
Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 2.6 percent to $2,066.74, while XRP fell 1.7 percent to $1.3628.
Solana and Cardano fell more than 3% each, while BNB was down 1%.
Among memcoins, Dogecoin fell 0.7%, while $TRUMP lost 1.1%.
Risk appetite rose slightly after U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday extended a deadline to attack Iran’s key energy facilities while saying talks with Tehran were ongoing.
